It appears that New England Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels prefers the San Francisco 49ers to any of the other vacant head coaching jobs around the NFL.
That’s fine and dandy. But it takes mutual interest. San Francisco itself has been engaged in around-the-clock interviews with potential candidates to replace Chip Kelly as its head coach.
As other chips continue to fall, both the 49ers and McDaniels have remained out of the news for a bit here. According to MMQB’s Albert Breer, that’s likely because McDaniels will at some point be named the 49ers’ next head coach.
“If MMQB.com’s Albert Breer is correct, that’s what’s likely to happen with the two Patriots coordinators,” CSNNE noted on Wednesday. “He believes Josh McDaniels has a ‘fantastic’ shot at being named coach of the 49ers, but doesn’t think Matt Patricia will get an offer from the Chargers.”
This shouldn’t come as much of a surprise. San Francisco has primarily focused on offensive-minded candidates, having already interviewed interim Buffalo Bills head coach Anthony Lynn and Atlanta Falcons offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan in addition o McDaniels.
Why would San Francisco be a draw for McDaniels? Well, it’s rather clear here. First off, despite the 49ers’ recent stretch of bad football, they are still considered one of the most historical franchises in the NFL. It’s a history very few teams around the league can duplicate.
Secondly, the idea of being able to start anew with a hand-picked general manager and what equates to being nothing more than an expansion roster has to be considered a draw.
McDaniels is said to have a close relationship with Louis Riddick, an ESPN analyst who just recently interviewed for the 49ers’ general manager job (more on that here).
One of the primary reasons this is currently on the back burner is the fact that McDaniels can’t officially accept any job until the Patriots’ season is over. That could come as early as this weekend against the Houston Texans. Then again, New England is considered the AFC favorite to land in the Super Bowl.
San Francisco is coming off a 2-14 season and is looking to rebuild from the top down. Adding someone of McDaniels’ ilk would go a long way in starting this process.